Tell me about... the Naginata

[Breetai]

So I was flipping through Record Sheets: 3055&3058 the other night. Full disclosure: this is probably my least favourite period. There are few designs that actually gel with my own Battlemech design philosophy (Lineholder is the best intotech 55-tonner, tho) and what I find particularly egregious is the overuse of XL engines in designs that either use the weight saved exceedingly poorly, or (especially amongst Heavy and Assault 'Mechs) for whom the added fragility and expense just don't deliver sufficient returns.

And then I saw the NG-C3A Naginata.

And in a sea of designs that I generally dislike, I can't fault it.

It's cheap, robust, has good armour, excellent weapon choice that is fully in line with its intended role (find somewhere high, preferably in cover, behind your forces and maintain network while pounding from long range), and even if you're running it in a lance without C3 it compares favourably with a lot of other 'Mechs on offer. (Mind you, if you're going to do that then take out the C3 and replace it with 5 ML...)

Who here has run it, and to what effect? It really does seem like an unrelentingly solid design, but one which maybe isn't discussed all that often.

[Nightsong]

I love it myself. Great fire support and net backbone. A future version with BC3 and maybe some flavor of ECM would be pretty awesome, even if you had to go with a light engine to do so.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

It's about as close to being a gold standard for C3M mechs as there is.  The only downside is its low speed, but rectifying that compromises the things that make it good in the first place.

And there is a BC3M master variant out there for later play eras.

[Colt Ward]

Yeah, I had a Nag on one of the MM servers . . . and a cheap spotter.  It got a lot of hate messages- but sent even more down range.  I wish the Dracs had followed up with it, say a LFE version to get the speed up to 4/6 but its been a while since I looked at the design.

I want to say its a absolute beast if you get it the right spotters- something like a Phoenix Hawk 7K for instance.

[ThePW]

Yeah, I had a Nag on one of the MM servers . . . and a cheap spotter.  It got a lot of hate messages- but sent even more down range.  I wish the Dracs had followed up with it, say a LFE version to get the speed up to 4/6 but its been a while since I looked at the design.

I want to say its a absolute beast if you get it the right spotters- something like a Phoenix Hawk 7K for instance.

I own one mini... and may have used it once. But I agree, its got potential in the right roll... and better lancemate's

[Tai Dai Cultist]

It's got more than potential... it's nearly optimized.  Very little combines a C3M with that much long range firepower... and IIRC nothing combines it all with the durability of a BattleMech platform that uses a SFE.

[JadeHellbringer]

It's a very good design for what it's supposed to do- even if enemy ECM makes the C3 job go away, it's still a PPC and 45 LRMs being flung at someone, combined with a surprising resilience. Also, it's got some serious freaking feet on it!

I'm not a big C3 fan (I adore C3i though), so I find there's other choices for the fire support role, but I always have felt that if Marik wanted to get something back for all that Clan Invasion era assistance they provided, Naginatas would be a big hit with the FWLM... likely with that master system dropped for some backup weaponry (or C3i for units with plans to defect...)

[Maelwys]

Its a solid design, great at what it does. Durable, heat neutral, and with enough ammo to last.

And on the plus side, none of the variants really suck or go off the rails either.

Its also produced on Quentin and not on Luthien, so its production most likely survived!

[Kojak]

Not only is the classic Naginata great, but the NG-C3C, which drops a couple tons of ammo and the C3M for a slave and jump jets, pairs fantastically with it.

[grimlock1]

It's a very good design for what it's supposed to do- even if enemy ECM makes the C3 job go away, it's still a PPC and 45 LRMs being flung at someone, combined with a surprising resilience. Also, it's got some serious freaking feet on it!

I'm not a big C3 fan (I adore C3i though), so I find there's other choices for the fire support role, but I always have felt that if Marik wanted to get something back for all that Clan Invasion era assistance they provided, Naginatas would be a big hit with the FWLM... likely with that master system dropped for some backup weaponry (or C3i for units with plans to defect...)

I'm with you on the C3i over C3 front.   But a FWLM bound Naginata would probably have to swap out the PPC, 'cause the FWLM doesn't have a lot of PPC.  Except for the Awesomes, and the Marauders, and the Griffins.... 

[Darkwing]

That's ok! You can strip out the C3 Master, the artemis, drop the ER PPC and have a Light Gauss Rifle!!! That makes everything better! Now it's a Free World's League Naginata.

Seriously though I have always like using the Naginata as the backbone of my C3 units. It just does its role very very well. Not flashy, but incredibly reliable. 

[grimlock1]

That's ok! You can strip out the C3 Master, the artemis, drop the ER PPC and have a Light Gauss Rifle!!! That makes everything better! Now it's a Free World's League Naginata.

Seriously though I have always like using the Naginata as the backbone of my C3 units. It just does its role very very well. Not flashy, but incredibly reliable.

I MISused the C3 Master config for years as the core of jury-rigged Level II.


A C3 Master could coordinate input from 3 slaves and 2 lance leaders. I interpreted that as a Master could coordinate input from up to 5 subordinates, so why couldn't that mean 1 Master and 5 slaves?  And in the intervening years, I have learned.  :(

[Getz]

I'm with you on the C3i over C3 front.   But a FWLM bound Naginata would probably have to swap out the PPC, 'cause the FWLM doesn't have a lot of PPC.  Except for the Awesomes, and the Marauders, and the Griffins....

I think that the reality is that during the Succession Wars, the FWL did not have enough manufacturing capacity to properly maintain their rather PPC heavy fleet of battlemechs, hence creating configurations that avoided that particular supply bottleneck.

Post Helm-core, the FWL seems to have plugged that particular black hole.

[Sabelkatten]

That's ok! You can strip out the C3 Master, the artemis, drop the ER PPC and have a Light Gauss Rifle!!! That makes everything better! Now it's a Free World's League Naginata.

Seriously though I have always like using the Naginata as the backbone of my C3 units. It just does its role very very well. Not flashy, but incredibly reliable.

The LGR is a very good weapon on a C3M unit, actually...

[Darkwing]

Agreed, I like the LGR, as a Blakist at heart they are amazing weapons with the C3i. The joke was less at the weapon and more at the irony of stripping the Master out to fit the LGR. Kinda like putting a NARC on the Stalker or the Orion. 
Sorry, I guess I failed my sarcasm check.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

The Naginata is a good mech, but you really need to keep it protected.  It's well armored, but one ER PPC and physicals are its only options in close range which puts it at a huge liablity against agile Clan designs.  Or agile Inner Sphere designs like the Blitzkrieg.

[mbear]

The LGR is a very good weapon on a C3M unit, actually...

And it's another candidate for the ELRMs the FWL has been putting on a lot of their 'Mechs in the Dark Age. Doesn't get the commander's ride too close to the line of battle, but does allow it to make a difference.

[Charlie Tango]

I'm a huge C3 fan and for that reason I like it in both Classic and Alpha Strike (that 5 at long in AS especially if you can get a spotter in position?  so sweet...)